Warsaw 1939-1944 - Underground Satire

Cartoons created in occupied Warsaw between 1939-44, raised the spirits of the oppressed people. They were simple, and detrimental to the enemy as well as to collaborating with the enemy compatriots. In addition to poems, jokes and street songs, they became a symbol of resistance and steadfastness, a unique phenomenon in European history on such big scale. Countless stickers, posters, flyers (so called "Butterflies"), hastily painted graffiti on the walls and fences, underground publications, all had the aim to refresh the spirits of the Polish people but also to mark its presence in the consciousness of the enemy. The exhibition in the Museum of Caricature in Warsaw is dedicated to the works of Polish artists, graphic designers, illustrators and cartoonists of the time. Their work - both persecuting and reassuring - has become for the whole nation a powerful weapon in the fight against Nazism and guard against the spirit of demoralisation and destruction. Drawings shown include the works of: Henry Chmielewski “Yes”, Stanisław Tomaszewski “Miedza”, Aleksander Świdwiński, Andrzej Villa “Was” and Jerzy Zaruba. There are also underground pamphlets and copies of the underground press, as well as photographs and fragments of the film"Forbidden songs" (Zakazane piosenki), to show the background of the fight in “Unvincible City” (nieujarzmione miasto). The art created in that time is an imprtant document reflecting the reality of daily life in Warsaw during the occupation.